Use
of sprouts vs. mature greens and whole beans

The
Great Myth of the 60s and 70s is that sprouts are nutritious - they aren't! They
are regarded as healthy for humans merely because they add some bulk and a bit
a fiber to our generally fiber-deficient diets. For an herbivore, however, they
may be worse than worthless nutritionally - they take up room in the gut that
should be filled with more nutritious foods. Iguanas, under optimum conditions,
can extract only 40% of the nutrients from the foods it ingests. When you let
them fill up on nutritionally empty foods, like sprouts, radishes, cucumbers,
zucchini, watermelon, grapes, mushrooms, green-and red-leaf lettuces, etc., you
may actually depriving them of nutrients by using these foods instead of more
nutritious alternatives.

From
the University of California at Berkeley Wellness Letter (School of Public
Health) V 12, N 1, 10/95:

"Bean
sprouts are a good low-calorie way to liven up your salad or sandwich but they're
no nutritional giants [emphasis mine], particularly since portions are typically
small. Even if you eat half a cup of mung bean sprouts, you'll get only 7 mg of
Vit C, about one-tenth the daily RDA, plus small amounts of iron and B vitamins.
Alfalfa sprouts are the least nutritious."

As
for feeding them to herbivores and omnivores, remember that all sprouts are extremely
bulky so that the reptile is able to eat less of them than appropriately prepared
leafy greens, vegetables, and mature alfalfa. As reptiles are able to extract
out only part of the nutrients under the best of conditions (iguanas only 40%)
it is extremely important to make sure that they are fed only nutrient dense foods
and can fit as much of it into their gut as possible - so mince and finely shred
hard veggies and fruits, and tear up most of the leafies into head-sized or smaller
pieces...no slicing and dicing!

Mature
alfalfa is at least 15% protein (~40 gm/cup), and has a 6:1 calcium ratio (protein
content can range up to over 20%). By comparison:

1 cup of

Protein
(gm)

Ca:P
Ratio

alfalfa
sprouts

1.32

1.2:3

lentil sprouts

6.9

1:7

mung bean sprouts

3.0

1:4

mushrooms

1.46

1:18

navy beans

14.8

1:8.5

pinto beans

43.5

1:3.4

kidney beans

14.4

1:3.7

soy beans

19.8

1:2.5

tofu*

7.8

1:1.8

sweet (bell) peppers

0.86

1:3.6

romaine lettuce

0.9

1:1

iceberg lettuce

0.7

1:1

*Note
that 1/2 cup of soy tofu has over 200 mg of oxalate, making it comparable--and
as undesireable, when it comes to healthy calcium metabolism--as spinach. (Source:
OHF, Oxalate Content of Foods, May 2004
update).

Remember
when feeding cooked, mashed beans as a protein source that beans, like all grains,
are extremely low in calcium and high in phosphorous so you will need to add some
additional calcium supplement to offset the imbalance. Beware too of feeding beans
that are high in fat, such as soy beans and garbanzo beans (aka chickpeas): fat
content in food can impede calcium metabolism, leading to metabolic bone disease
if not properly supplemented.

Recent news indicates that sprouts can be contaminated with Salmonella...so
be very careful if you decide to feed sprouts to your pets or yourself. More information
can found at the Centers for Disease Control
website.

Can't
Tell The Difference Between Mature Alfalfa and Alfalfa Sprouts?

On
the left is a mature alfalfa plant. Above is
a clump of alfalfa sprouts.